The Best Birthday Ever
by CaptainRaz
Summary: Remus goes to the Ministry to surprise Tonks with lunch, and a few other things besides. Written for the second round of the MetamorFicMoon Lover's Moon fic jumble.


Title: The Best Birthday Ever

Rating: K

Word Count: 1631

Summary: Remus goes to the Ministry to surprise Tonks with lunch, and a few other things besides. Set post-Deathly Hallows

* * *

Remus hummed quietly to himself as he stepped into the phone box entrance to the Ministry of Magic. He didn't mind the whole world knowing that he was in a good mood. Not even the cool female voice on the other end of the telephone could ruin his good mood. Remus was still humming when he received his visitors badge, and for once not even the immortal words 'Remus Lupin; werewolf' bothered him as he pinned his badge to his jumper.

Today was Remus' forty-fifth birthday, and that morning he had received the best birthday present ever through the owl post. As of today, he was no longer just 'Remus Lupin; Werewolf', but also 'Remus Lupin; Order of Merlin First Class.'

He and Tonks (well, mainly Tonks) had fought passionately since the end of the war to get him the recognition that he deserved for his part in the fight against Voldemort, and today, he had finally been given his due. Tonks didn't know the medal had come through, so Remus was on his way to the Ministry to surprise her.

The phone booth came to a halt, and Remus stepped out into the Atrium, amused to see the golden statues of Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter amongst the others in the fountain. Remus wholeheartedly agreed that Dumbledore should be honoured in such a way, but felt it a tad premature for Harry' statue to be there, seeing as he was still alive.

Remus ambled over to the security desk and handed over his wand with a smile. The guard today, who was apparently called Davy, took Remus' wand with a grunt and placed it on a small set of brass scales to be weighed. After a few seconds, the wand-weigher shot out a piece of paper that Davy promptly snatched up.

"Twelve inches, holly, dragon heart-strings; been in use thirty-four years, is that correct?"

Remus nodded happily, not in the least perturbed at the reminder of how old he was. Davy stuck the piece of paper on a small brass spike and handed Remus his wand back. Remus politely thanked the man and went on his way, once more humming to himself. There were a number of large queues for the lifts, so Remus headed off in the direction of the stairwells, ignoring the slightly curious looks he was receiving from the throngs of Ministry employees.

The stairwells were cool, dark and dusty, being seldom used by Ministry employees. The ambience of the stairs and the repetitive sound of his feet on the stone gave Remus the perfect conditions for thinking. He fingered the small box in his pocket, wondering if today would be the day. It would be the perfect way to round off the best birthday he had had since he got his Hogwarts letter on his eleventh. Before Remus could ponder the pros and cons, he found himself on the second floor, and face to face with a familiar flame-haired wizard.

"Oh, hello Remus," exclaimed Arthur Weasley "I didn't know you had business here today."

"Not business as such, Arthur," replied Remus. "I thought that I would surprise Tonks with lunch."

Arthur smiled wryly. "Celebrating no doubt, eh? Can't say as I blame you, it really has been far too long coming, that Order of Merlin of yours."

"Keep it down please Arthur! Tonks doesn't know yet; I was hoping to surprise her." Remus smiled rather bashfully at the Weasley patriarch, who gave him a knowing smile in return.

"I'd wager you don't want her knowing before she sees for herself how dashing you look in your shiny new medal." There was a rather mischievous look in Arthur's eyes, and Remus felt himself going slightly red at the thought of what may have occurred at the Burrow after Arthur had gotten his Order of Merlin.

"Something like that," mumbled Remus, uncharacteristically flustered. Arthur seemed to sense Remus' discomfort, and quickly brought their encounter to a close.

"Well then, I'd hate to keep you from your Tonks; I'm sure you're dying to let her know your good news." Remus nodded cheerfully at the redhead. Arthur turned to leave, but then seemed to remember something.

"Oh, Remus, Molly is cooking dinner on Saturday; Harry and Ginny are coming, and so are Ron and Hermione. Mad-Eye and Kingsley are coming too."

"Tonks and I will be there, Arthur. Give Molly my best."

Arthur nodded his farewell and set off up the stairs, whilst Remus set off in the direction of the Auror headquarters. In the 5 years that he and Tonks had been together, Remus had often surprised her at work, and as such it didn't quite cause a scandal anymore when the known werewolf walked into Auror headquarters. What Remus didn't quite expect was a hearty slap on the back and the booming laughter of one Kingsley Shacklebolt as he congratulated the most recently decorated member of the Order of the Phoenix.

"Keep it down King," protested Remus as he massaged his sore shoulder. "I was hoping to surprise Tonks with that, though if you know there's not much hope of her still being in the dark."

"No worries mate," replied Kingsley, gold earring swinging madly in his laughter, "Tonks had a run in with Robards this morning about her paper work; she's been sat in a cubicle with all day with the Mother-of-all-Silencing-Charms and a threat of emasculation for anybody who disturbs her."

Apparently this piece of information did not disturb Remus in the least, as an extremely wicked grin spread across his face.

"You mean to tell me that Tonks is in her cubicle?"

"Yes."

"And she can't hear a thing?"

"Yes."

"So she isn't going to hear me coming?"

"No."

"Thanks King," said Remus brightly, slapping the man on the shoulder with considerably less force than Kingsley had done earlier.

Cautiously, Remus crept around the Auror department towards Tonks' cubicle, completely ignoring the funny looks he was receiving from any Aurors in the vicinity. It turned out that what Kingsley had said was true; Tonks was hunched over her desk, apparently listening to the WWN so loudly that her desk was vibrating, but Remus couldn't hear a thing. Another mischievous grin slipped out. Slowly, he tiptoed into Tonks' cubicle. When he was almost directly behind her chair, Remus adopted a sort of crouch, and waited for the perfect moment to strike.

Tonks threw her quill down in protest at something, and then Remus pounced, grabbing her around her middle and tickling her mercilessly. Tonks began writhing around in protest, and Remus could see her face as she laughed, even though he couldn't hear anything within the confines of the Silencing Charm. Eventually, when both were collapsed in a heap on the floor and breathing heavily, Tonks lifted the Silencing Charm and turned off the radio.

"You prat," said Tonks. "You complete and utter prat!"

Remus responded by curling up in a small ball and laughing until his sides ached and his jaw felt like it was going to fall off. Tonks attempted to shoot Remus a glare, but it ended up being entirely half-hearted.

"It's not fair, I can't be mad at you on your birthday," Tonks pouted.

Remus pulled her in for a brief kiss.

"It may be my birthday, but I have one or two surprises for you," said Remus in a low voice.

"Oh yeah?" asked Tonks, raising a bubblegum pink eyebrow.

"My medal came through this morning," whispered Remus, and both eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Order of Merlin First Class, for Services to the Wizarding World in Fighting against the Dark-Arts."

Tonks face broke into a warm smile.

"Oh Remus, that's wonderful!"

"Hmmm, isn't it just," he agreed with a contented smile. "Almost the best birthday present ever."

"Almost the best birthday present ever?" the eyebrow was quirked again.

Remus hummed in consideration as he reached into his pocket. Tonks eyebrows shot up in surprise as Remus drew out a small velvet box, before her features melted into an expression of absolute joy.

"Remus…"

"The best birthday present ever would be if you would agree to marry me, Nymphadora."

Remus' voice was low as he opened the velvet box to reveal a simple diamond ring. Tonks was so entranced that it took her a moment to respond to Remus' words.

"Don't call me Nymphadora," said Tonks with a playful slap.

"Ah, but if you are agreeing to be Mrs Lupin then I will have to call you Nymphadora, won't I?" said Remus mischievously.

Tonks face softened at the words 'Mrs Lupin' but she wasn't about to give up on the subject of her hated first name.

"No. I'll get rid of the Nymphadora instead of the Tonks."

Remus grinned. "Is that a 'yes' then?" he asked expectantly.

"Hell yeah that's a 'yes'," said Tonks, wrapping her arms around his neck, and making it extremely difficult for him to slide the ring onto her finger.

"Good," said Remus, pulling Tonks in for a lengthy kiss.

Some time later they broke apart to find Gawain Robards stood imperiously at the entrance to the cubicle, and wearing an expression that said he had been stood there far longer than he would have liked.

"I don't suppose we'll be getting much sense out of you this afternoon, will we, Auror Tonks?" asked the Head of Auror Department. Tonks shook her head nervously. "I do hope that you will be in a far more professional mood tomorrow, i Mrs Lupin i ."

Robards left the happy couple still sat on the floor; limbs entangled and surprised looks on both their faces. Slowly, Remus and Tonks looked at each other, and promptly burst out laughing. When their laughter subsided, Remus turned to Tonks and raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"Lunch?"


End file.
